1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and materials for the removal of pollutants from flue gas or product gas from a gasification system. In particular, mercury is removed from gas streams generated during the burning or gasification of fossil fuels by highly reactive regenerable sorbents.
2. Background of the Invention
The combustion and gasification of fossil fuel such as coal generates flue gas that contains mercury and other trace elements that originate from the fuel. The release of the mercury (and other pollutants) to the environment must be controlled by use of sorbents, scrubbers, filters, precipitators, and other removal technologies. Mercury is initially present in the elemental form during combustion and gasification. In downstream process sections, such as in the ducts and stack of a combustion system, some of the elemental mercury is oxidized. The amount that is oxidized depends on the amount of acid gases present in the flue gas and other factors. Amounts of mercury vary with the fuel, but concentrations of mercury in the stream of flue gas from coal combustion are typically less than 5 parts per billion (ppb). Large coal combustion facilities such as electric utilities may emit a pound of mercury, or more, per day. Mercury removal applications include, without limitation, flue gas from coal (or other fossil fuel) combustion, waste incineration, product gas from gasification, as well as off gases from mineral processing, metal refining, retorting, cement manufacturing, chloralkali plants, dental facilities, and crematories.
Mercury Sorbent Technologies
Several types of mercury control methods for flue gas have been investigated, including injection of fine sorbent particles into a flue gas duct and passing the flue gas through a sorbent bed. Fine-particle injection sorbents include activated carbon, metal oxide sorbent, sodium sulfide particles, and basic silicate or oxide sorbents. When particle injection is employed, the mercury captured on the sorbent particles is removed from the gas stream in a bag house or electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and collected along with ash particulate. The sulfide and basic silicate and oxide particles are effective only for the oxidized mercury, and the metal oxide sorbents exhibit slower capture kinetics than the carbon particles. Additionally, injection of fine carbon particles into the flue gas stream has been only partially successful in removing mercury, especially elemental mercury, where effective removal of only about 60% is attained for some applications with a FF (fabric filter) to collect carbon and ash. Even lower removal rates have been observed when using an ESP to collect the carbon because the contact time of the carbon with the gas is very short.
A major problem with existing carbon injection systems is that the sorbent is initially unreactive, and only after extended exposure to the flue gas does the sorbent become effectively seasoned and provide increased reactivity with the mercury in the gas. Consequently, these sorbents must be used in large amounts, at high sorbent-to-mercury ratios, to effectively capture the mercury. These sorbents tend to be relatively expensive and cannot be easily separated from the ash for regeneration and reuse. The collection of carbon in the ash also creates solid waste disposal problems, and the spent sorbent may contaminate the collected ash, preventing its use in various applications.
Accordingly, there remains a need for more economical and effective mercury removal technology. This invention provides for cost-effective removal of pollutants including mercury, using sorbent enhancement additives and/or highly reactive sorbents, with contact times of seconds (or less), and that may be regenerated and reused.